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Filled under: Movies | by chrisr |
Tags: Avatar, James Cameron, moive, racist
It’s racist to say ‘Avatar’ is racist
The theory that billion-dollar blockbuster “Avatar” is racist has quickly spread. Whether this film is racist is up to opinion, but in reality people looking for racism will see it anywhere. If you look hard enough, you’ll find it anywhere. You could probably find it in a faxless payday loans application if you look hard enough. People will see whatever they want to see.
I don’t think James Cameron or the writers of “Avatar” intended to be racist. The racism argument goes, as far as I can tell, something like this: Because the hero is white and he ends up helping and leading people of a different, non-white, race, “Avatar” is racist. Many people call “Avatar” a “white male savior” movie.
Argument: ‘Avatar’ is not racist
So, a white guy plays the main character, the protagonist, the “hero.” Is that to infer that every movie with a white protagonist cast in the lead is racist? Some have even said it is sexist because the main character is a man.
The character Princess Neytiri, could also be argued as being a hero, or heroine. She’s an alien in the film, and by virtue of the adjective “she,” a female. I’m not giving away the plot, but she isn’t exactly the ingénue in complete distress.
So who’s actually the racist? ‘Avatar’ or the audience?
Part of the argument is that the actors cast as blue people are all of color in real life. However, if the casting directors told me that they simply chose the best people for the parts, I’d believe them.
Though the protagonist is white, the honkies in ‘Avatar’ are all sort of bad. The blue aliens are peaceful and nature-loving, and the white guys are destructive and evil. That would make it reverse racist, but that’s a bit of a leap as well.
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